An off-duty Chicago Police detective shot a man and woman after he stopped to check out a "disturbance" in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side early this morning.

Police said the man approached the detective's car with a handgun around 1 a.m. near the intersection of 15th Place and Albany Avenue. The detective opened fire, hitting the man in the hand but also striking a woman in the head, according to police officials.

Officers in the area, near Douglas Park, heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene. Police said the man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, but a condition on the woman was not available.

Pat Camden, a police union spokesman, said the detective was in his car and stopped as he approached four people on the street who were causing a disturbance.

When he told them to quiet down, they approached his car and one of them raised a gun and pointed it at the detective, Camden said. “At that point he fired a couple of shots in fear for his life,’’ Camden said. “He hit two offenders who ran from the scene.’’

Camden said the couple were found and taken to the hospital.

Police News Affairs released a statement saying the detective rolled down the window of his car to investigate a disturbance "and observed a male offender approach him with a handgun. At that point, the offender pointed the weapon in the direction of the detective. The detective announced his office and, as a result of this action, the detective discharged his weapon from his vehicle striking the offender. The offender was transported to an area hospital.

"Further investigation revealed a female subject sustained a gunshot wound and was transported to an area hospital. No other injuries were reported."

Police did not say whether a weapon was recovered.

The intersection of Albany and 15th Place was cordoned off with yellow and red tape after the shooting, and about a dozen police investigators, some holding flashlights, canvassed the area on foot.